An employee walking along a thermal pipe at the Kamojang geothermalpower plant near Garut, West Java, on March 18. State utility provider Perusahaan Listrik Negara is targeting an additional 135 megawatts ofelectricity from three new geothermal plants. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time. …”

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Operators claim major upgrade of pipe networks

The two tap water operators that serve Jakarta, PT PAM Lyonaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra), have announced they have completed major improvements to their infrastructure since they were established in 1998, claiming improved water quality, coverage and pressure.

Palyja, which serves the west side of Jakarta, says it has built 1,200 kilometers of new pipes and restored 850 kilometers of its existing 5,200 kilometers of pipes at a total cost of Rp 1.35 trillion (US$151.2 million) since 1998.

Palyja public relations manager Meyritha Maryanie said a further 3,000 kilometers of pipes needed to be restored.

The company booked a net profit of Rp 222 billion last year, up from Rp 136 billion in 2008.

“We realize that under such conditions, we won’t be able to supply enough water for the areas on the west side of the city but we have done what we can, especially amid a lack of water resources and also a lack of awareness among residents,” Meyritha told The Jakarta Post.

She said that her company drew the majority of its water from the Jatiluhur resevoir in West Java and another reservoir in Tangerang.

“We are planning to use water from the Pesanggrahan river as it often overflows during the rainy season. However we are still checking the quality of the water and negotiating with the authorities,” she said.

Palyja and Aetra have held the exclusive rights to manage the city’s tap water since 1998.

Aetra, then PT Thames PAM Jaya, has built 1,451 kilometers of new pipes to add to the 4,400 kilometers of pipes that it already had. Aetra serves residents on the east side of Jakarta.

Aetra general manager Agit Pratomo said the company was focused on allocating more money to expand its pipe network and build new pumps to increase water pressure this year.

“We understand that many of our customers have complained about our supply so we are allocating

Rp 300 billion to build 232 kilometers of pipes and two pressure pumps,” he said.

He said his company usually only spent an average of about Rp 120 billion per year on infrastructure

upgrades.

“We hope that private companies will become more aware of the need to use tap water in accordance with the 2007 bylaw,” he added, refering to a bylaw that stipulates that commercial and industrial buildings that tap into the ground water must pay taxes that are more costly than paying for tap water.

The companies do not produce enough tap water to meet demand. They are running at an estimated combined defecit of 4,000 liters of water per second this year, based on the assumption that the population of the city is growing at a rate of up to 0.3 percent per year.

In fact, the Jakarta Statistics Agency (BPS) recently announced that the population growth had reached 1.3 percent per year.

Earlier, experts said that almost all commercial buildings in the city used groundwater because of the lack in supply and coverage of tap water in the city. (rch)

Health, Safety & Environment

PRECARIOUS: Without proper safety equipment, three workers put the iron frame for a billboard in place near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Friday. The billboard will display a sign celebrating the city's 480th birthday. JP/Arief Suhardiman

Suppliers

Water Distribution

Flow of Funds, Flow of Water (WB)

Today, fewer than 20% of households in Indonesia have access to piped water, which is inexpensive and still of reasonable quality compared to alternative sources. The situation has deteriorated in recent years, as the sector can no longer rely on central government grants and loans, formerly major sources of funding.Read More ...

FREE CAR WASH: A taxi is sprayed with water from a broken pipe on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta on Sunday. (JP/J. Adiguna)

GIFT FROM EARTH: Almost half of Jakarta's residents use groundwater as their main source of clean water due to a lack of access to treated piped water. Water comes from wells like the one this family in Kampung Bahari, North Jakarta are using (photo above), or mechanic pumps like this one in Kampung Melayu, South Jakarta. (JP/P.J. Leo)

LATEST NEWS: Photographers covering the deteriorating health of former president Soeharto send pictures through a wireless internet facility in front of Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta on Wednesday. The service, which was provided by IT company CISCO, has saved journalists the effort of going back and forth between their offices to submit their work. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama